Sleet blade



Oct. 20, 1931.

J. R. OISHEI SLEET BLADE Filed Dec. 22, 1927 l l: t

Afl/'o1' Patented ocr. 2o, 1931 i .r UNITED- lSTATI-14S- PME'1511*l voFFlcEf .101m a. orsnnr, or nurrALo, 4Nrs'w Yonmnssmuon To 'ramo raopucrs conrom.

" i Tron, or parano', Naw "$0111:

BLEET ABIllAllE @paginamedfnaniber 22, 1927. serm 11o. 941,784.

' invention relates to al blade for windshield cleaners. f y l n These blades are usually` constructed of a channeled backing stripor holder' o f metal,

between the walls of is clamped fa flex'- ible stri' vor stripsof. rubber, thesame being: designe to flex againstthewindshield glass to remove the moisture'therefrom. In cold weather the motorist willencounter snow and sleet storms "or-,cold rainsduring which the7 moist snow',` sleetand raingwill congeal on and adhere to the Windshield thereby beclouding the vision therethrough. Such obscuredfvision is"c' bv`ifios1y'v dangerous and places the motorist under an intense strain"` and ,some diseomfoxltu're.

The problem and avoiding the accumulation; of co'ngealev or frozen matter onthe Windshield. has longv challenged invention'. v Various f l attempts have' been made4 to" oier, practical vsolutions to combat this 'attendant evil of coldweather driving, such as the application ofrheat to1 arm.

the windshield"'glass,lor the'swabbing of the windshield glass with a felt'or' ad satulted with a solutlon having a lower reezing point than that ofgwater. Thev diil'erent `methods heretofore suggested eitherinv'olve anelaborate piping systemlfo'r conducting heated air.v

to the windshield, the subjection of the VIehicle storage battery to .the additional burden of energizing an electrical 'resist'anceadj acent the windshield glass, or, in the use-ofachemically saturated wiper element, theexcessive. A a plication to the windshieldjof some solu-v tlon or chemical which would .wash Vdown to the bottom of the windshield andii'ow olf into the highly polishedv automobile finish thereby i not only removing the'polish "and inishbut in some instances injuring the'jsiixrroundingv metal parts. Then, too, these chemical-swabf v bing blades havebeen very rshort-lived` and cannot be safely'relied upon,l for-use subsequent to the initial use. f.

The present invention has for itsvobjects to provide a sleet blade,' therterm f-sleet be'-k ing used generically to include anylcongealed rain or snow on a windshield, which willbe practical in operation and be long-lived; ,to provide a sleet blade which is readilydefected tachablefrom the wiper-carrying arm where- 'by the normalor usual wiper v.blade may expeditiously be replaced by the 'sleet' blade communicatlng with a suply of normally dry chemical .which will eginy feeding to the wiping surface whenv subjected to moisture; and to provide a sleetblade embodyirlilg j a channeledholderfequipped withchemic containing meansgwhich will-be-'brought into communicating relation with the wiper strip when the latter is clampedtherein.v

Referring morein detail to the accompanying drawings, ,l

Fig. 1 is a perspective view Showing the' improved blade attached to a wiper-moving Fig. 2 is 'a fragmentary perspective view showing one endv'of the' blade beforey the l chemical issealed therein, p

Fig.'3 is a cross sectional view proved sleet blade, andr Fig. 41'sr a similar view of the improved sleet blade equipped with a fewer number of cleaning strips. Y

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the numeral 1 ldesignates a channeled holder orfbacking'strip 'of metal, and over the back Aof this holder is secured an attaching clip 2 ofthe imbywhich the blade may7 be 'readily attached.

1.verv expeditiously and without the vuse ofy tools, to the wiper-operating arm 3. The

mounting of this armk and the construction ofthe clip are similar to those shown in the co-pending application of Henrv Hueber, filed July-29. 1927, under Serial No. 209.262. As shown, they clipfis provided in its back with an entrance slot'4 and aspaced open-v ing 5 .the latter being designed to receive the free end 6 -of the lower angularl portion of the wilperk arm 3, the connection being efy first straddling the walls of'the slot 4 over ,the arm 3, as when the blade assumes tudinal axis of the wiper arm, to engage said end 6 in its opening, -sand then moving the wiper blade to the position substantially that shown in Fig. 1. The resilient pressure of the arm causes the latter to bear on the back of the holder 1 while the blade is permitted a certain amount of flop the degree of which is determined bythe relative size of the opening 5 and the terminal 6. This flop lis especially desired in windshield cleaners to effect a cleaner wiping action.

The blade is preferably of a. multi-ply fabrication or make-up `and comprises spaced, outer, chemical-applying plies 7, which are the outermost or side plies, and one -or more cleaning or wiping plies'8 which are preferably in the form of flexible rubber strips. In Fig. 4 a single rubber ply is shown interposed between the two lateral and 'chemical-- applying plies 7 while in Fig. 3 there is depicted'three wiping plies between the lateral chemical-applying plies. edges of the several strips or plies are progressively stepped, thereby providing an vangular wiping edge for the blade which presents two wiping faces each face of which comprises the wiping edges of one of the chemical-applying plies and the adjacent wiping ply or plies. stroke the wiping edge of the chemical-applying ply is in advance of the rubber wiping edges so that the congealed matter will initially have a chemical applied thereto before the wiping ply or plies come into con tact therewith. The resulting action isthat the chemical-applying ply applies the chemical to soften the congealed matter which 'is wiped free of the glass bv the next succeeding 'wiper ply, and the glass'is ultimately wiped practically lclean of any residue by the second succeeding wiping ply which latter is the central and widest strip shown in Fig. 3.

The chemical-applying or feeding piles are preferably in the form of wicks which have a very good degree of capillary attraction for moisture so that as the windshield glass is being wiped a certain amount of moisture will be absorbed by the respective wick plies and will travel up the same within the holder 7 where it will Contact with the dry lchemical and begin to dissolve the same whereby the dissolved portion of the chemical will flow down the wicking 7 and be applied to the windshield. This dissolving and feeding of the chemical tothe point of application is very gradual so in order to have the sleet blade function immediately after being put into use, it is'preferred to dip or saturate the wick plies inra .solution of this chemical and the plies permitted to ydry before being inserted in the holder l. Then, when the sleet blade is first put :into use. the dried chemical with which the wick plies are impregnated will immediately re-dissolve upon contact The wiping During each wiping with the moistened surface ofthe windshield. This will immediately result in melting the congealed or icy coating on the windshield so theoriginal supply of chemical in sai `outer plies 7. Thus, the' chemical-applying pliesywill be impregnated with the chemical at all times, or until the supply of dry chemical has ybeen exhausted. Therefore, if, after the unfavorable weather conditions have subsided, the motorist desires to remove the sleet blade and substitute the usual rain blade, the saturated plies 7 will again dry out but nevertheless be substantially fully impregnated with the-chemical so that in subsequent usage the outer plies will be in condition to function immediately upon contact with a moist surface.

For example, the wick plies may be dipped in a brine or salt solution and dried. In this instance the dry chemical willv also. be salt for replenishing thesupply ofY salt inthe Wickplies. v

The supply of dry chemical is preferably housed withinthe holder l, and in the form herein depicted such container is provided in the wall of the holder by embossing the same outwardly. 4Any number of such embossments 9 .may provided, each side wall of `the holder being herein depicted as embodying two embossments, one on each side of the clip `2. These embossments are formed by pressin 4outward bulges in the side walls of the hol! er, therebyproviding a chamber or magazine in the inner wall across which the adjacent ply 7 extends as it is most clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In the initial steps of forming the holder, small .throat-s or necks 130 are provided simultaneously with the formation of vthe chambers 9, which throats or necks extend through the adjacent ends of the sidewalls 4oit the holder whereby after the plies have been 'clamped in position within the holder a quantity -of dry and preferably 'powdered or granular chemical maybe injected into the chamber through the compar atively small entrance openings 10.l This may .readily be accomplished by inserting a nozzle into the neck yopening and forcing the drv chemical therethrough into the chamber. Subsequent to inserting the supply of dry chemical into the different chambers the neck l,openings are closed by collapsing or .nressing the meta-lat these points down onto the interposed plies of the blade.- This -is shown Fig'. l wherein it will be Inoted that the end portions of the side walls of the holder are practically undistorted and that the co1n partments are entirely closed to the outside except through the wickingk by Vwhich the moi-sture reaches the contained dry chemical. This construction brings ,the side walls into clamping engagement with the interposed plies entirely about the chambers 9.

The motoristv will obviously wish to save his sleet blade for emergencies only and therefore the method of attaching the sleet blade to the wiper-carrying arm is identical with the mounting of the ordinary blade on the arm so that the replacement and substitution of the different blades may readily and expeditiouslybe eiiected without the use of tools. This is especially desirous when one is out driving and finds that the moisture is congealing on the glass before him. In aA very short interval of time he can change from one blade to the other and have his sleet blade working so as to avoid any beclouding condition on the windshield surface. During use the chemical will gradually become dissolved and feed down to the point of contact with the glass so that a constant supply of chemical will be supplied. After once wetting the chemical plies, such plies will remain saturated throughout their use so that if and when the sleet blade is removed from the wiper arm and stored away for future emergencies and the plies eventually dry out, they will nevertheless be impregnated with the chemical for functioning immediately upon contact with a wet surface when subsequently called into operation. Consequently the supply of dry chemical will last almost indefinitely and will render the wiper blade useful over a very long period of time.

What is claimed is 1. A wiper blade comprising a channeled holder having a relatively shallow bulge in one side wall forming a chamber, an absorbing wiping body clamped between the side walls of the channel, and a dry chemical, dissoluble in water, contained within the chamber-forming bulge and in Contact with the wiping body, the side of the chamber which opens into the channel of the holder being open for substantially the entire width of the chamber. said absorbing wiping body constituting substantially the entire side of the chamber whereby the dry chemical will be retained within theA chamber until dissolved.

2. A wiper blade adapted to be floppingly mounted on the wiper-carrying arm of a windshield cleaner, comprising a holder embodying chemical-holding means, a wiper ply secured in the holder, and a pair of chemical-applying plies mounted on the opposite sides of said wiperply and secured in the holder in communication with said means, said chemical-applying plies projecting a shorter distance from the holder than said wiper ply and adapted respectively to contact with the glass :forwardly of the wi er ply in one direction of movement and 1i from the glass in the opopsite direction of movement in alternation with the companion chemical-applying pl'yHN R OISHEI 

